This week’s News Round-Up has a bit of everything (like normal). To spread the wealth, I have casting news for the Coen Brothers’ Hail Caesar! (Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, and Ralph Fiennes) as well as International Incident (Ken Jeong). I’ve also included release dates for Selma and Straight Outta Compton. The big news came in the directing department, though, as Rian Johnson signed on to direct Star Wars: Episode VIII and Star Wars: Episode IX, Ridley Scott will direct The Martian next, and Shane Black will reboot the Predator series.

All the info is below.

Casting

Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, and Ralph Fiennes joined the already fun cast for the Coen Brothers’ Hail Caesar! (George Clooney and Josh Brolin joined the film earlier). As of right now, this one doesn’t have a release date, but this’ll definitely be on everyone’s radar when it does comes out. (Source: Moviefone)

The second piece of casting news comes by the way of the Steve Carell-produced International Incident. The comedy will focus on U.N. delegates that set out on a fun road trip. I’m interested to see who else joins the movie (that is currently without a release date). There isn’t a director for this one yet either. (Source: Comingsoon)

Release Dates

Selma – a civil rights picture that’ll feature Martin Luther King, Jr. (played by David Oyelowo) – will release this coming Christmas Day in limited theaters. It’ll follow the trend set forth by movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Her with a wider release (January 9, 2015) set for after the new year. This one is directed by Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere). (Source: Collider)

Universal has been shuffling around their future releases lately. Since the Bourne movies were delayed, this left a spot open that’ll now be filled by Straight Outta Compton. The N.W.A.-focused movie will come out on August 14, 2015 and is directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job). (Source: Comingsoon)

Directing Gigs

Perhaps the biggest news of the week belongs to director Rian Johnson (Looper) and his upcoming Star Wars projects. Johnson will follow J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII with Episode VIII and IX. These two projects will get casting and release date updates later on. (Source: Deadline)

People (myself included) have wondered what Ridley Scott’s (The Counselor) next film would be. Some were hoping it would be Prometheus 2; however, those people are going to be disappointed. Scott is set to direct The Martian next that’ll star Matt Damon. An official date isn’t known yet, but it looks like 2015 is a real possibility. It’s worth mentioning Scott has a mystery movie release date in May of 2016, so perhaps that is The Martian? We’ll know soon enough I’m sure. (Source: IndieWire)

Finally, I wanted to mention the latest reboot news. I make the joke every week, but I guess I have to continue the trend: it seems like we hear about some sort of reboot or sequel each time I do a News Round-Up piece. Today that news belongs to Predator as it’ll be written and directed Shane Black (Iron-Man 3). Stars and a release date haven’t been announced by Fox yet. (Source: THR)

Jordan, who currently resides in Seattle, WA, has slowly become a film fanatic over the past couple of years. He attributes his love for film to the smash hit THE DARK KNIGHT which has created an (un)healthy obsession with both Christopher Nolan and the Batman franchise. Although he appreciates all genres of film, his favorite movies are typically psychological thrillers, with an emphasis on non-traditional narratives.